Brick-machine



(No Model.)

. 3 Sheets Sheet`L G. L. ROLFE & J. H. JOHNSON..

BRICK MACHINE. No. 532,186.

Patented Jan. 8, 1895.

(No Model.) s sheetssheet 2f. G. L. ROLFE & J. H. JOHNSON.

BRICK MACHINE.

No. 532,186.. l Patented Jah. 8, 1895.

(No Model.) 3 sheetssheet a.

G. L. ROLFE xv J. H. JOHNSON. .1%-

BRIGK MAGHIN'E.

No. 532,186.l Patented Jan. 8.1895.

i @warn eg/r/ UNITED ySTATE-s@PATENT OFFICE.

- cap is raised to enable itA to take on and o GEORGE L. ROLFE AND JAMESH. JOHNSON, OF ST. JOSEPH, MICHIGAN.

BRICK-MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 532,186, dated January8, 1895.

Application filed May 25,1894.

To all whom it may con-cern.-

` Be it known that we, GEORGE L. ROLFE and JAMES H. JOHNSON, citizens ofthe United States, residing at St. Joseph, in the county of Berrien andState of Michigan, have invented certain new and useful ImprovementsinSand-Brick Machines; and we do declare the following to be a full,clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enableothers skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use thesame.

Our invention relates to improvements in machines for making sand brick;and it has for its several objectsto provide sand brick machinesembodying such a construction that a plurality of them may be placedside by side and driven through the medium of a common drive shaft; toprovide means whereby the pressed bricks may be quickly and convenientlyremoved from the mold boxes without dangerofbreakage;tosoconnectthediesto the follower that they may be readily removed to becleansed or for any other purpose; to so construct and arrange the partsthat break: age will not result from a failure to get the cap upon themold boxes before the material therein is subjected to pressure; toprovide means for automatically cleaning the face of the cap as it ismoved toward and from its position above the mold boxes; to providemeans for raising the cap so as to enable it to freely move on and olfthe mold boxes; and to provide means whereby the feed may be quickly cutoff without loss of material.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be fully understoodfrom the following description and claims when taken in connection withthe annexed drawings, in

which- Figure l, is-a vertical, longitudinal section of our improvedmachine. Fig. 2, is a transverse section taken in the plane indicated bythe line oo, of Fig. 1. Fig. 3, is adetail rear elevation of theslidable feed box and the mechanism for adjusting the' same. Fig. 4, isa detail, horizontal section taken in the plane indicated by the line z,z, of Fig. 1. Fig. 5, is a detail, vertical section taken in the planeindicated by the line y, y, of Fig. 2. Fig. 6, is a detail perspectiveview illustrating the mechanism through the medium of which the SerialNo. 5 l 2,4 6 9- (No model.)

the mold boxes. Fig. 7, is a perspective View of the follower with oneof the dies partly removed, and Fig. 8, is a perspective view of theplunger removed from the toggle levers.

In the said drawings similar letters designate corresponding partsthroughout the several views, referring to which- A, indicates the mainframe of the machine which preferably comprises the side castings B,which are of a greater height attheir forward than at their rear ends,and B', indicates the drive shaft which is journaled on the sidecastings adjacent to the rear ends thereof and may therefore be extendedin either direction so as to permit of its being employed to drive aplurality of machines. This drive shaft B, is provided with a band wheela, toreceive a belt from a suitable motor, and it is also provided withasuitable pinion as b, which meshes with a large gear wheel O, on thecrank shaft D. The said crank shaft D, which is arranged transversely ofthe frame in advance of the shaft B', has its crank c, connected to oneend of the pitman E, which has its opposite end connected to the togglelevers F, at their point of connection, whereby it will be seen thatwhen the crankshaft is rotated, the toggle levers will be alternatelyflexed and straightened solas to reciprocate the plunger G, which isconnected to the upper lever or levers and is arranged in the guides d,upon the inner sides of the side castings B. (See Fig. 1.)

'We prefer for the sake of lstrength and durability to construct thetoggle levers F, in the manner shown, and connect them by the bolt e,which is designed to travel to and fro in the guides f, but we do notdesire to be understood as confining ourselves to this or any otherspecific construction as toggle levers of various kinds may beemployed.'

As better shown in Fig. 2, of the drawings,l

the lower toggle lever F, is fixedly connected to a transverse shaft H,and this transverse shaft is arranged in slots as g,in the side castingsand is designed to rest, when the toggle le-k vers are straightened ordrawn into alignment, upon the bearing blocks h. Better shown in Fig. 1.The slots g, admit of the shaft H, moving vertically, and it willtherefore be seen that the mold box cap I, which is ixedly connected bybars as J, with the shaft H, may be raised as presently described so asto enable it toas illustrated.

M, indicates the pressing follower of the machine which is arranged inthe guides d, beneath the mold boxes and is normally held in theposition illustrated in Fig. 1, by suitable stops (not illustrated).This follower M, is provided upon its upper side with dovetailprojections i, which are designed to engage corresponding grooves in thedies N, so as to permit of a ready removal of the said dies for cleaningor for other purposes; and the said follower is also provided with abifurcation l, to enable it to pass up on either side of the wall m, andwith an opening n, the purpose` of which will be presently understood.

In order to enable the operator to raise the follower M, with theexercise of but little effort, so as to discharge the pressed bricks orto raise the dies to a point above the mold boxes, where they can bereadily detached from the follower, I provide the lever P, which isfulcrumed on a hanger depending from the main frame and has its weightend resting in the opening fn, of the follower, and the lever Q, whichis fulcrumed at one end on the frame and is connected with the power endof the lever P, byalink as p. By reason of this construction it will beperceived that the operation is enabled to exert a great leverage andconsequently raise the follower with but little effort, which is adesideratum.

R, indicates the fixed feed spout of the machine which may lead from anupper iioorand be provided with a valve or cut off as q, and S,indicates the movable spout section which is flexibly connected to thefixed section in any approved manner. This movable spout section S,isconnected in turn to the slidable feed box T, which is mounted on ashelf 1', at one side of the mold boxes as better illustrated in Fig. 1,and is provided in its bottom with an opening as s, through which thematerial may pass into the mold boxes. The said feed box T, is providedwith a wheel t, designed to travel in a groove in the shelf fr, to easethe movement of the box, and said box is designed to be adjusted throughthe medium of the lever u, the rock shaft o, the crank arm w, and thepitman w, which latter is connected to a hanger y, which depends fromthe box through a slot in the shelf fr, as shown. By reason o f thismechanism it will be perceived that when the lever u, is raised, the boxwill be moved to a position over the mold boxes so as to permit a fullcharge of material to pass into said boxes, and when the lever is moveddownwardly in the direction indicated (see Fig. l), the box will bedrawn away from the mold boxes and the feed will be cut off without theloss of any of the material which is an important advantage as isobvious. It will also be perceived that when the feed box is moved fromover the mold boxes, all material above the mold boxes L will be carriedwith the feed box and only the exact amount to form the bricks will beleft in the molds.

U, indicates the weighted yoke lever through the medium of which theshaft H, is raised so as to enable the cap I, to clear the mold boxes inmoving on and off the same. This yoke lever which has its weight endsresting beneath the shaft H, is fulcrumed at a point adjacent to saidshaft as indicated by a7, and is provided at an intermediate point ofits length with a pedal piece V, which extends up through an opening ina platform as W, so as to enable an attendant to raise the shaft H, andconsequently the cap I, at the proper time. The yoke lever U, alsoenables the attendant to raise the cap I, in case the plunger commencesits upward movement before the mold boxes are fully charged, so as topermit the loose material to be pushed up without being pressed. Thisresults in a saving of material as We have found from experience thatwhere a part of a brick is pressed it is impossible to connect the loosematerial to the same so as to form a whole brick of standard size.

X, indicates the strip of rubber or similar material which is designedand adapted to scrape the face of the cap I, as it moves toward and fromthe mold boxes. This strip X, is connected to the forward side of thecasing of the mold-boxes as better shown in Fig. l, and its fasteningmay if desired be reinforced by a metal strip.

In the practical operation of our invention, when the machine is set inmotion and the mold boxes charged with material, the shaft D, throughthe medium of the pitman E, will draw the toggle levers into alignmentso as to raise the plunger G, and will rock the shaft H, through themedium of the lower toggle lever so as to raise the c'ap I, to itsposition above the mold boxes. The plunger as it continues to rise willengage and raise the follower M, and through the medium of the same willSubj ect the material in the mold boxes to pressure, after which theplunger will move downwardly when the pressed bricks may be convenientlyremoved by raising thefollower M, by hand through the medium of themechanism described.

By reason of the gearing embodied in our improved machine it may be runwith but little power; and it will therefore be perceived that a numberof the machines may be driven through the medium of a single commonshaft as B',A by an engine of small horse power.

It will also be perceived that our improved machine is very simple andstrong and that it embodies no parts that are liable to get out oforder.

While we have in some respects specifically described the constructionand relative arrangement of the several parts of our improved machine inorder to impartafull and exact understanding of the same, we do not IIOdesire to be understood as confining ourselves to such specificconstruction and arrangement as such changes or modifications may bemade in practice as fairly fall within the scope of our invention.

Having described our invention, whatwe claim is,-

1. In a sand brick machine, the combination with a mold or mold box; ofa slidable feed box mounted on a shelf or platform and having an openingin its bottom adapted to register with the mold or mold box, a movablefeed spout leading from a source of supply and connected to the feedbox, the rock shaft fu, having a crank arm as w, a pitman connectingsaid crank arm with the slidable box, and a lever fixed on the rockshaft, all substantially as specified.

2. In a sand brick machine, the combination with a mold or mold box; ofa slidable feed box having an opening in its bottom adapted to registerwith the mold or mold box, and a movable feed spout leading from asource of supply and connected to the -feed box, substantially asspecified.

3. In a brick machine the combination with a frame, and a mold or moldbox; of a rock shaft as H, a vertically movable plunger, an

. upper toggle lever connected to said plunger,

4. In a brick machine, the combination with a frame and a mold or moldbox; of a vertically-movable rock-shaft H, a cap as I, fixedly connectedwith the rock shaft, means for rocking the rock shaft so as to move thecap toward and from` the mold or mold box, and

means for raising the rock shaft, substantially as and for thepurposeset forth.

5. In a brick machine, the combination with a frame, a mold or mold box,a vertically., movable rock shaft H, a cap as I, iixedly connected withthe rock shaft and-means for rocking the rock shaft so as to move thecap toward and from the mold or mold box; of a lever U, having itsweight end resting under the rock shaft, substantially as and for thepurpose set forth.

In testimony whereof we aflixour signatures in presence of twowitnesses.

GEO. L. ROLFE. JAMES H. JOHNSON. Witnesses:

` LEVI S. MANN,

JNO. B. MELSHEIMER.

